Vatican City.- Pope Leo XIV reiterated his call for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and for dialogue between the parties, after expressing his “deep sadness” over the attack perpetrated this Thursday by Israel against the parish of the Holy Family of Gaza, the only Catholic church in the Strip, with 4 dead and 7 injured.
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The death toll after the Israeli bombing of the only Catholic parish in the enclave rose to 4 and the number of injured to 7, according to Zaher al Waheidi, director of the Health Unit in charge of counting Gazan deaths, who confirmed this to EFE. Leo XIV “has received with deep sadness the news of the loss of human lives and the injured caused by the military attack on the Catholic church of the Holy Family in Gaza, and assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the entire parish community of his spiritual closeness”, it is indicated in the message. Among the injured is Romanelli, whom Pope Francis called every day since the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip began and until shortly before his death on April 21st. “Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of almighty God, the Holy Father prays for the consolation of those who mourn and for the recovery of the injured,” he concludes. The Israeli army, for its part, said it “regrets the damage caused” to the Holy Family Church and that “the circumstances of the incident are being analyzed,” in a statement. In December 2023, two months after the start of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli sniper opened fire on this parish and killed a mother and daughter, but until this Thursday, Israel had not directly bombed this church. According to the agency of the Italian Episcopal Conference (SIR), this Catholic parish currently hosted about 500 Christians displaced by the Israeli offensive.
